John E. Stith's Blog

"I am extremely happy to see that John Stith’s career is experiencing something like a renaissance.... I am even happier to report that his newest novel lives up to his old standards, with no diminishment of sense of wonder, suspense, or thrills....
"Stith is a master of dialogue and banter and humor... Zippy dialogue propels much of the story with easy flow. His evocation of ancient mysteries reminds me of the thrills I got as a youngster reading Andre Norton’s Galactic Derelict. The First Contact angle is on a par with and reminiscent of Vernor Vinge’s limning of the Tines in The Children of the Sky. And it would take an Eric Frank Russell to match Stith’s antagonism against bureaucracies.
"From time to time in my reviews, I have tried to adumbrate a class of writers who deliver straight-up SF adventure that nods to postmodernism and current cultural expressions while still retaining the best of the classic ways. I think this group has its origins in writers like Keith Laumer and James Schmitz, and its recent expounders in William Barton and John Barnes.
"We can certainly add John Stith to this illustrious rollcall."

https://locusmag.com/2025/01/disavowed-by-john-e-stith-review-by-paul-di...

Pulp Fiction Reviews just reviewed TIMY TIME MACHINE (review by Ronald Fortier)

https://pulpfictionreviews.blogspot.com/2025/01/tiny-time-machine.html

Every now and then a science fiction book comes along that is simply fun to read. Most  of these are science fantasies or space operas and not what is labelled Hard Science. It is rare that one finds a rollicking, fun sf adventure under the Hard Science umbrella. This is clearly one of those treasures.  

Meg Vauntage’s mother died when she was a young teenager. Now, a rebellious young woman, she’s constantly butting heads with her widowed father who rarely pays her any attention. What Meg doesn’t realize is that her father is obsessed with inventing a time machine that will allow him to go back in time and save Meg’s mother.  

As the book opens, Meg, and a young man named Josh, are wanted by the San Francisco police for misdemeanor crimes against corporations who poison the environment. Fleeing to her father’s lab, they arrive to find him dying of a gunshot wound. With his last breath, he tells Meg to guard his cell-phone. Confused by this cryptic order, Meg, with Josh’s help, examines the phone and discovers it is a functioning time-machine that will allow them to travel to the future.  

“Tiny Time Machine,” was first written as three novellas. Now they have been collected in this omnibus edition. The first tale has Meg and Josh discovering a devastating end of the world scenario in the future and are challenged to prevent it. In the second tale, they, with the help of a futuristic AI entity, manage to travel backwards into the past, their goal, to save Meg’s father. And finally, with the third chapter, Meg explores the possibility of being able to save her mother. 

The action, from page one, is nonstop. Meg and Josh, and the supporting cast are beautiful realized and a joy to accompany in their wild escapades. “Tiny Time Machine” is a gem by a truly gifted writer. Pick it up, we think you’ll love it.

From https://pulpfictionreviews.blogspot.com/2025/01/tiny-time-machine.html

TINY TIME MACHINE: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY contains:

TINY TIME MACHINE, AKA TINY TIME MACHINE 1: WHEN MEG MET JOSH (2021), 

TINY TIME MACHINE 2: RETURN OF THE FATHER, (2023).

TINY TIME MACHINE 3: MOTHER OF INVENTION (2024).

Published December 1, 2024. DISAVOWED.  The sole survivor of a botched mission overcomes terrible odds to reach home. And then the real trouble starts. From Amazing Select, the imprint of Amazing Stories.

TINY TIME MACHINE: The Complete Trilogy has been published by Amazing Stories, in both trade paperback and ebook.

"This three-part tale of a couple of smart and unstoppable teens determined to save the world (and rescue a parent or two in the process) with the help of a pocket-sized time-travel device is fast-paced and full of inventive twists and turns.  Science, danger, humor, romance--and glimpses of more than one all-too-possible future--there's something here for everybody!  A clever, lively, and diverting read!" -- Connie Willis, named a Grand Master of Science Fiction by the SFWA

"John E. Stith has created a truly memorable and fascinating character for this unusual time-travel story. Timemachining Meg not only strives to save the world; she is also forced to mature as a person. She shows brilliance, jealousy, and daring; she emotionally hangs tough as she also takes on the job of healing her relationship with her father. She is a complete person who gains common sense as well as wisdom during her and her companions' heroic journey. In my own world, I'd like for everyone to get to know someone like her as one of their models." -- MiRobin Webster

"The humor and adventure of the series make for a largely enjoyable read." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Stith brings a MacGyveresque enthusiasm, a Tom Swiftian innocence and ebullience married to technological savvy, to this story." -- Dr Paul Levinson

"Stith shapes the tension of this thriller with consummate skill, pushing each new threat ever higher. I especially admired how he used Dave’s inner turmoil and still-unhealed wounds to intensify the escalation of pressure. The dramatic story is extremely well handled, but most of all, it’s a compassionate, humane tale of the resourcefulness of a deeply damaged, yet sympathetic, courageous, loving person. Ultimately, it’s as much a story of hope as a page-turner thriller." -- Deborah J. Ross, author of Jaydium

"John E. Stith is one of our very best writers, and this is one of his very best stories: a big idea explored from every conceivable angle. Tiny Time Machine is a triumph." -- Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of The Oppenheimer Alternative

About the book:

Meg is an angry scientist's daughter. Her father is not a mad scientist, just really angry--so angry that he and Meg have rarely spoken since the death of her mother. Meg has become a loner, obsessed with combatting polluters like the ones who triggered her mother's death. And her father has had a different obsession.

As Meg works to expose a polluter, she runs into Josh, another loner out to save the world. When Meg and Josh suddenly find themselves on the run from the cops, Meg heads for the one man who should always take her in--her father. But when Meg and Josh reach him, they find him dying. Just before he dies, he gives Meg a strange device that looks like a cellphone and tells her to use extreme caution.

When the invention proves to be a time machine that holds the key to humanity's future, Meg and Josh must find a way to do the impossible--to work as a team. They are up against the cops, a powerful billionaire, a Russian profiteer, and a romantic rival. Can they save the world, and save each other?

TINY TIME MACHINE: The Complete Trilogy has sold to Amazing Stories.

They plan to publish the combined edition on October 1, 2024.

Here's a preview of the cover.

When the book is for sale, this page will be updated with online links.

The YouTube recording of the MANHATTAN TRANSFER TV Pilot Launch Party is here.

Stars:

Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, All American)
Walter Koenig (Star Trek, InAlienable)
Doug Jones (The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, Star Trek: Discovery)
John Billingsley (The Man from Earth, The Orville)
Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager, Samantha Who?)
Bonnie Gordon (Star Trek: Prodigy)
Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Host)
Jennifer Wenger (Battle for Saipan, Assailant)
Eve Mauro (Cypher, Dystopia)
Robert Funaro (The Sopranos, Ray Donovan)
Abigail Zoe Lewis (Better Call Saul)
Chalet Lizette Brannan (Dystopia, Renegades: Ominara, Crepitus)
Rico E. Anderson (Truth Be Told, S.W.A.T.)
and more.

To be directed by Shaun Paul Piccinino.

Here's the YouTube link for the new book trailer for MANHATTAN TRANSFER.

Directed by Jeffrey Berman.

Voice actor: Rich Adams

From the science-fiction novel MANHATTAN TRANSFER by John E. Stith

I provided short reviews of five great thrillers to the Shepherd site. You can find them here.

The list includes Harlan Coben's Six Years and four other great books.

Amazing Stories is running a series of articles talking about the story behind Manhattan Transfer getting to this point in the TV development process.

The next one is here: Episode 08 Final Funding, In the Beginning

Amazing Stories has just published TINY TIME MACHINE 3: MOTHER OF INVENTION

If you missed part 1 or 2, you can find them on sale this month. Each part is a standalone short novel, but together they tell an even bigger story.

In TTM 1, Meg and Josh discovered a time machine built into a cell phone and used it to avert a disastrous future. But along the way, Meg's father, the inventor, was killed.

In TTM 2: Return of the Father, Meg and Josh brought a sarcastic AI, Valex, from the future to help them enhance the tiny time machine so it can open a portal to the past, and did their best to rescue Dad before his ex-partner could harm him.

Now, Meg and Josh are back in a third installment, Their mission: to venture even farther into the past so they can save Meg's mother before she dies in the hospital mishap that originally triggered Dad's efforts to build the tiny time machine. Along the way, they must fix the future again and survive a final confrontation with Dad's ex partner.

Praise for TINY TIME MACHINE:

“John E. Stith is one of our very best writers, and this is one of his very best stories: a big idea explored from every conceivable angle. Tiny Time Machine is a triumph.” — Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Award winner and author of The Oppenheimer Alternative.

“Stith brings a MacGyveresque enthusiasm, a Tom Swiftian innocence and ebullience married to technological savvy, to this story.” — Dr Paul Levinson, Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon Award nominee, and author of the Phil D'Amato SF mysteries.

“I’ll read anything by John E. Stith…. The description says it’s “for young adults,” but I disagree. While teens are going to love it, and it’s a novel featuring young characters, it’s so full of buoyancy and hope that adults will gobble it up, too.” – Deborah J. Ross, author of Jaydium and much acclaimed fiction.